Breaking Open the Word

1^st Sunday in Advent 2019

Cycle A

Isaiah 2:1-5

Romans 13:111-14

Matthew 24:37-44

 

With the exception of the Gospels, we read more from the prophet Isaiah than any other piece of scripture in the Bible and it is critical for us to understand the context in which it has been written.

 

Despite what the vast majority of Christian believers have thought down through the ages, Isaiah is not predicting the coming of Jesus. Rather, Isaiah of Jerusalem, and all of the other contributors to this scripture, are writing how the word of God was made known to the people and how that same word of God was meant for them in their time, and how it is meant for us in our time. For us to understand the Immanuel prophecy in Matt 1:23 we must first understand the message Isaiah gave King Ahaz when he first spoke it (Isaiah 7:10-17).

 

These early verses in chapter 2, 2-4, sound pretty much like Micah 4:1-3. Micah was also an eighth century prophet, like Isaiah, of the southern kingdom. Scholars do not know who first used this imagery, or who even wrote it, but what they can agree on is that these verses would fit the pilgrimages the people would take to go to the Temple in Jerusalem, especially those who had been in exile and are returning to Jerusalem after being gone for many years.

 

Isaiah is reflecting on the way the people of God will return to the holy places, to Mt Zion and will be instructed by the Lord in the ways of peace. There will be no need for swords or spears, but the need will be for pruning hooks and plowshares. There will no longer be conflicts, no wars but a place to walk in the light of the Lord.

 

Without an in-depth study, it would be easy to assume that Paul founded the Christian community in Rome. After all, that’s what Paul would do; start a community and then move on, writing back to the community when the need would arise.

 

The Christian community in Rome was first founded by some of the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. However, in AD 49 emperor Claudius expelled them from Rome. After he dies the Jewish Christians returned to Rome to find a very surprising number of Gentile Christians. Their numbers had swelled explosively due to large number of converts.

 

Paul had intended to return to Jerusalem with the funds he had been collecting for the brothers at home, and then was going to journey to Spain via Rome. Paul had hoped that both groups would speak highly of him to the believers in Jerusalem and thereby resolve any conflicts that would come up from his preaching. He was concerned that not everyone was as open to his preaching and evangelization. His fears came true when he was arrested in Jerusalem and spent 2 years in prison before being transported to Rome.

 

Paul encourages the believers to live in the light, live in the new day as a result of Jesus death and resurrection from the cross. He says the day is at hand, soon to arrive, when they must account for their actions. If they put on the armor of light, when they conduct themselves properly, then they have nothing to lose. It is when they abandon the teachings of Jesus, when they follow their lust, promiscuity, when they spend their time in drunkenness and when they become jealous of one another they are living in the darkness.

 

Jesus is speaking with his disciples for one of the last times before his passion and death on the cross. He is warning them to be prepared for the coming of the Lord. No one, not even Jesus knows when that time will be.

 

Jesus gives them the example of Noah and the great flood where no one was prepared to survive and all were carried away. They had not made any preparations and were caught by surprise.

 

His warning to the disciples is that they are supposed prepare themselves for the end times, to do whatever it takes to follow what the Lord is asking them to do.

 

It is no different for us today. We are called to be prepared for the return of Jesus, to be following what He has asked us to do by loving our neighbors, to take care of the poor and the homeless and to visit those who are imprisoned, to look after those who can not care for themselves, no matter who they are or where they come from. Those are they things we need to do to prepare ourselves for the end times.

 

What have you done to prepare yourself for the end times?